Does Test Management Exist? Should TMF Move with the Times? Intelligent Assurance and Testing 23-May-19 Does Test Management Exist? Should TMF Move with the Times? Paul Gerrard paul@gerrardconsulting.com @paul_gerrard gerrardconsulting.com

For the past 10 or more years… I've been having conversations with testers who say: "We've been agiled - I don't seem to have a job anymore“ For the first few years of Agile, there didn't seem to be a role for testers at all Over time, it became clearer 'generic tester‘ 'technical tester‘ 'programmer support tester‘ Or… they take a more senior, overarching assurance role to manage risk, advise on testing and be the general conscience of an Agile team So over time, test practitioners are finding their feet.

But the Test Manager's journey is much less certain Perhaps no need to manage a team at all Dispersed teams, smaller projects need coordination, but do they need a manager? No need for a single focused project test plan No phases to manage There is no need for day to day management of people, progress or reporting Now the Digital revolution is taking off, it's even worse.

In 2011-12 I said this…

The real squeeze on testing Assurance, Re-Training, Mentoring 23-May-19 The real squeeze on testing From the ‘low-value’ unskilled, downstream test role to upstream, business-savvy, workflow-oriented, UX (user experience)-aware testing specialists with new tools Developers absorb the checking – with tools Business analysis owns acceptance New focus on requirements management Under-skilled testers, relying on clerical skills to get by will be squeezed out But… © Aqastra Limited 2008

Some Doors Close, Other Doors are Opening What are the new opportunities for Test Leads and Managers?

#1 Upstream with stakeholders and analysis – providing testing and assurance skills to business

#2 Managing the Business Requirements knowledge base; analysing business impact of change

#3 Providing an assurance function to teams, projects, and business stakeholders (“testmaster”)

#4 Managing the information flows to/from development teams and the CI (DevOps) process

#5 Managing/monitoring offshore resources who detail and execute tests

Perhaps testing and the role of testers can at last can mature to what they should be?

Digital

Digital – a Business initiative with an IT response Unlike Agile, the Digital phenomena is a business initiative Agile: 15 years and we are not halfway Digital: c. 3 years – every business wants it and they want it NOW Ask Billy Connolly.

IT Response Shifting left DevOps Continuous Delivery, Analytics, SMAC and even shift-right. Where does Test Management fit now?

The Goals of this Session Discuss: Does Test Management as a discipline even exist anymore? What is the role of test management and managers? How should the TMF support this role in the future?

Does Test Management as a discipline even exist anymore? If not, what do we have? Discuss

What is the role of Test Management and Test Managers? Discuss

How should the TMF support this role in the future? Some Ideas first

Some ideas 1 Rename the Forum – to use some sexy buzzwords: DevOps, Assurance, Digital, Shift-Left, SMAC, Shift-Right, Automation - Forum Do different things – conferences, blogs, social media – but keep to core values Target a wider community Broader scope and discussion topics Partner with other groups to cross-fertilise e.g. BAs, Devs, Ops, Business People?

Some ideas 2 Let’s use the brain power and influence of TMF membership to change the market The usual route is to: Create a new process, role, certification scheme E.g. Scrum, ScrumMaster, ScrumMaster qualifications Build Forum reputation – establish credibility as an authority on…. What?

How should the TMF support this role in the future?

I’m Done Thank-You